It has been a busy few weeks. Luckily we were spared the worst of Hurricane Matthew and only had some minor tree damage. We had the birdfeeders back out at dawn immediately after the storm passed. Since then I've picked up a few more painted buntings, as well as had some other migrants pass through.



Rose-breasted grosbeak



Northern parula



Red eyed vireo



Black throated blue warbler male



And female. All of the warblers have been enjoying these rouge berries.



Eastern Phoebe



Female Scarlet Tanager



Ruby throated hummingbird





Our wildlife cams have been catching plenty of interesting visitors.

By day: Catbird, Ovenbird, Cardinal, and Carolina wren



By night: Raccoons, Opossum with baby in pouch, Armadillo, and a pre-dawn Ovenbird



It has been a lot of fun watching what goes on in the garden when we are not looking!

Last week I was in San Antonio for a conference. Flying out of Palm Beach, I got a nice view of all the runoff stormwater draining offshore.





The Alamo



Market Square, the largest Mexican market in the US.





The highlight of the trip was the Bracken bat cave, home to millions of bats! It was amazing to watch them emerge at dusk. I had visited last spring, but this was much more impressive since there were many more fall migrant bats present.



We've also had our first cool front pass through in Florida, which has been a delight.

Hurricane Matthew is heading for South Florida this evening. Thought I'd get one more blog in before going offline for a while!

Bird activity has picked up in the last few days. We had our first painted buntings arrive a couple of days ago.



Hummingbirds have been arriving steadily





New one for the yard, Swainson's Thrush



Ovenbird bathing



Wren showering



Sentinel mockingbird



The local pileated woodpeckers have been taking an interest in the owl box. This one decided to widen the entrance hole enough so that it could fit inside. I don't know why since I doubt that the box is large enough for them to nest in. Guess I will have to look into reinforcing the entrance before the owls come back!



To those in Matthew's path... stay safe!